PFAW Calls on Ocean City to Reject Bigotry

People for the American Way today called on the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, Maryland to cancel the invitation to retired Lt. Gen. William
“Jerry” Boykin to headline this week’s Ocean City Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast.

Michael Keegan, President of People For the American Way, issued the following statement:

“Lt. Gen. Boykin has made his name by being one of the most bigoted and offensive figures on the national stage. While a top official at the Pentagon,
Boykin gave inflammatory speeches framing the war on terror as a holy war against Islam, which earned him public rebukes from many, including President Bush. Since
his retirement, Boykin has devoted himself to spreading intolerance of Islam and promoting outlandish and harmful conspiracy theories about President
Obama and others.

“By inviting Boykin to speak at a prominent community event, Ocean City officials have effectively endorsed Boykin’s hate-filled rhetoric. I hope that
the invitation to Boykin was an oversight by city officials. Now that they have Boykin’s full record, they should reject bigotry and withdraw Boykin’s
invitation to speak.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Friday for Ocean City officials to disinvite Boykin – link[1]

On Thursday, People For the American Way sent a letter to Ocean City officials informing them of Boykin's record and urging them to rescind his invitation. --link[2]

Here are just some of the many examples of Boykin’s outrageous and divisive rhetoric:

Boykin: President Obama has created a Hitler-style Brownshirt army to force Marxism on America -- link[3]

“We have incrementally moved towards Marxism and now I think it's at an accelerated pace. ...

One of the things that Hitler did was he established the Brownshirts. ... Well, in the lead-up to the election, during the campaigns, our current president said very openly, and you can find it on YouTube, if I am elected President, I will have a national civilian security force that is as large as and as powerful as the US military.

For what? Why do you need a national civilian security force?

Now most people say, well we haven't seen any signs of the administration doing that. Until you go back and read what nobody in Washington read, and that's the health care legislation that lays out a provision for the commissioning of officers to work directly for the President in time of a national emergency.

Now what would bring about a national emergency? An economic collapse, a terrorist attack, a natural disaster - we talked about all those things here - which would then allow for martial law. The foundation has been laid.”

“We need to recognize that Islam itself is not just a religion - it is a totalitarian way of life. It's a legal system, sharia law; it's a financial system; it's a moral code; it's a political system; it's a military system. It should not be protected under the First Amendment, particularly given that those following the dictates of the Quran are under an obligation to destroy our Constitution and replace it with sharia law.”

“No mosques in America. Islam is a totalitarian way of life; it’s not just a religion. … But Islam, we need to think Sharia, it is not just a religion it is a totalitarian way of life. A mosque is an embassy for Islam and they recognize only a global caliphate, not the sanctity or sovereignty of the United States.”

Boykin: There can be no interfaith dialogue between Muslims and Christians because Islam is not an Abrahamic faith and has nothing in common with Christianity -- link[6]

“A Defense Department investigation has determined that Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin, the Pentagon's senior military intelligence official, violated three internal regulations while delivering controversial speeches that linked the war on terrorism to what he depicted as an enduring battle against Satan, according to a copy of the probe obtained yesterday by The Washington Post.

The 10-month internal investigation, conducted by the department's deputy inspector general for investigations, confirmed news accounts that Boykin said in his speeches that President Bush had been placed in his post by God, that radical Muslims hate America because it "will never abandon Israel" and that the U.S. military is recruiting a spiritual army that will draw strength from a greater power to defeat its enemy.”

New York Times: “Bush Says He Disagrees With General's Remarks on Religion” -- link[10]

President Bush said on Wednesday that he disagreed with comments by a top Pentagon general who had cast the war on terrorism in religious terms, but the Defense Department said the officer would not be reassigned.

The comments by Mr. Bush were his first in public about Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, the deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence and war-fighting. General Boykin has likened the battle against Islamic militants to a Christian struggle against Satan and said at evangelical gatherings that a militant Muslim militia leader in Somalia worshiped an "idol" and not "a real God."